The Reason Why
by mortenavida
Summary: Perhaps, when you read this, you will understand why we were that way. Perhaps you will understand why we had to do this. Perhaps, but probably not. After all, we didn't do this for you. We did it for Harry. Written for dudley redeemed 2011


**Author's ****or ****Artist's**** notes:**Written for dudley_redeemed 2011. Any mistakes are made intentionally.

_January_

Harry Potter died January 19, 1998. Nobody was able to bury him. His remains, to the best of my knowledge, decorate the front door of Lord Voldemort's main hideout. They say if you see Harry, you're dead. People are afraid to go into buildings they've never been in (you know, just in case Voldemort's main hideout was the local grocer you've always ignored), not wanting to see the bones of the boy was supposed to save them.

The muggles know what happened now. As soon as Harry died, the Death Eaters took over England. All routes out were shut down. No military force from other countries could get in. The wizard's anti-apparition wards haven't been able to be broken by man, and no other foreign wizard wanted to try. All of us, every last wizard and muggle, became encased in a tomb the size of England.

My parents and I didn't hear the news for days. One moment we were calmly watching the telly, the next moment the power cuts and we were left in the dark. Our caretakers told us to stay put and then they left the house. We slept in the living room that night, not feeling safe to go anywhere else. When our guardians didn't return, we eventually ventured off into different areas of the house, but we were cautious. Cautious never helps.

_February_

They killed my parents on February third. Harry's death gave Voldemort all of his memories, which led him to our hideout. He came in the middle of the night; my mother didn't have the chance to scream. The cell they placed me in, and I still don't know why they didn't kill me, was right next to an older man. He introduced himself as Severus Snape. I told him Harry sometimes complained about him during the summer and the man just smiled at me. He turned his head away and I couldn't see his face anymore behind his shoulder-length black hair. I wondered why so many of these wizards liked their hair so long in the first place, and hiding was probably the reason.

They kept us well fed for reasons neither of us knew. I still ate, not caring if the food had been poisoned or not. Severus ate bits and pieces before pushing the plate away from himself. Every time after the guards left, he would gently press a hand to his chest. Relief would then spread across his face and I wasn't sure if it was relief that he was alive or something else. He never did tell me. I honestly wasn't even sure I wanted to know.

I lost track of time within the cell, but Severus kept me grounded. His voice gently reminded me of the date and occasionally he would quiz me on subjects I hadn't even heard of. Just sitting next to him, hearing him lecture about things I didn't understand, calmed me. I did learn by verbal instruction how to brew a venom antidote and, after I repeated it to him, he nodded and said that at least I learned better than Harry. I wasn't sure what to say to that.

_March_

Four men, masked and cloaked, came for Severus and myself on an oddly sunny day after a full moon. We walked side-by-side down a long hallway dripping with a sort of sticky goo. It hit my head and ran down the side of my face, but my bound hands kept me from reaching up to brush it away. I didn't dare try to guess what it was. I didn't dare ask. After all, when you're about to die, you don't care about these things.

They shoved us into a room with four others. I was sure they were all wizards and at least one of them looked familiar. Two were adults and two were about my age. One of the other boys was bleeding in several places already, though I couldn't tell how much was old blood and how much was new. Severus nodded to each one of them and while they backed away from his intimidating form, I moved closer. He was the only one I knew and there was no way I would let him out of my sight. Severus gripped my arm, holding me steady. I appreciated it more than he knew.

It didn't take long for the door to open again. Another cloaked man (or was it the same one as before?) stepped in and silently walked around us. He left the door open, but none of us dared to move. Why would we be that stupid? The only woman in the room watched him; she was shaking so bad I thought she would fall over at any moment. All I wanted to do was tell her it would be all right, even if I knew it wouldn't. The man next to her stood as close as he dared, his fingers just barely touching her side. He just looked tired.

Severus' hand gripped tighter to my arm to the point where I knew it would bruise. I tried to tell him it hurt, but before I could, I felt something slide past my bare foot. I knew that feeling. You don't get caught in a reptile cage at eleven without remembering that feeling. Oh _fuck_.

The woman across from us began to cry. The snake slid around her feet for a long time before rearing back and striking the ragged man next to her. She screamed, Severus tightened his grip, and the man went down. Blood immediately came out of his ankle. There was so much blood. _How__ could__ there__ be__ so __much__ blood_.

I started to hyperventilate. The snake continued around the room to bite us all in turn. None screamed, but all of them went down. When it came to us, Severus dropped to his knees, his grip loosening, as the snake wound its way up his body. The snake slipped itself up my body next to stare into my eyes. Terrified, I squeezed mine shut. It hissed and lurched at my face, and I knew nothing else.

I had survived, of course. I wouldn't be writing this if I hadn't. The Death Eaters piled our bodies deep in a forest. When I woke, I couldn't see anything, but a familiar deep voice told me to relax. The snake bit my cheek and blood covered most of my face. That didn't really get me to relax, but I stopped struggling. I was cold and hungry, but I was alive.

Severus explained that they dumped us out for the wild animals to eat. He then boasted that they were stupid and he was a potion's master. He had counted on the fact that Voldemort would want our particular group (or just him, he never really said) poisoned. I didn't really understand and when I said so, he brushed my hair from my forehead and explained as best he could.

He had become a Death Eater after he made Harry's mum angry. Eventually, he saw his error and begged a man named Dumbledore for forgiveness. The man eventually convinced Severus to continue working for Voldemort, but as a spy instead. When Harry died and Voldemort obtained his memories, he was found out as a spy and branded as a traitor. The snake had apparently offered to get rid of him and that's when he gathered a few more of his annoyances.

Remus Lupin was close to Harry. He was the first man to be bitten and the only thing that saved him, apart from a potion Severus had hidden away on him, was the fact that he was a werewolf. As it was, he just barely held on to life. He told me he looked worse than he felt and I wasn't sure I believed it.

The woman who screamed was Molly Weasley. She was like a second mother to Harry even though she had seven kids of her own. She was the first to wake after Severus and was currently trying to find them food. I had an urge to just have her close by and wanted to ask exactly where she was, but I held back. Part of me feared that I was trying to replace my own mother with her.

Draco Malfoy died, having been through numerous beatings before the bite. It was punishment for not killing a man named Albus Dumbledore and, due to a curse Harry accidentally threw at him the year before, he was unresponsive to what Severus called a Blood Replenisher. Having no proper way to bury him, Severus simply let the animals have his body. It was either him or all of us; I didn't know Draco, so I was a little glad it was him.

The last one beside myself was Neville Longbottom. He had led the rebellion in the school and he was a good friend of Harry's. He was supposed to be bait for Ron and Hermione, but he managed to get that message out and they stayed wherever they were. Voldemort was angry at not only him, but the guards in charge of watching his cell. Apparently, people had started looking to him to lead them after Harry died, even if he hadn't been the strongest wizard before.

I felt out of place. They all fought for Harry while I ended up tormenting him for sixteen years. I wanted to take Draco's place, but knew that to be impossible. First because I feared death, and second because you can't raise the dead. Especially if their body was missing and most likely torn up in several different places. The thought of that still makes me ill.

We had all been dropped out with little clothing (Severus never did tell us how he kept his potions hidden with him, despite all of us asking). We were all awkward around each other during the first few days of recovery, but then a mix of hunger and depression pushed the discomfort away. None of us knew what to do anymore and the thought of leaving our less-than-safe hole in the ground terrified most of us, despite the danger.

_April_

The cold months were not over and there was only so much heat you could get from a mass of bodies. Small bursts of wandless magic could help that, but Remus also worried about the upcoming full moon. Once he reminded us of his condition, there was no way around it. We had to leave. We had to find safe shelter of some kind. We only had a week to do it.

It took three days of solid walking, but we did find an abandoned cabin in whatever forest we were in. Remus said he could smell the moth-eaten fabric from miles away and led us there. Molly explained that it looked like a hunter's old winter cabin; from the animal heads on the wall, we had to agree. Those were the first things the five of us pulled off the walls.

Neville and I cleaned the house with our hands since I didn't have magic and he was never that strong with it in the first place (plants were the only things that still responded to him the same as before). The three adults tried their hardest to do anything they could without their wands, but each had mixed results. Molly could do basic cleaning charms, but couldn't control how much or how little they did. Severus could do the protection charms and those that dealt with cooking, but he had to relax before he tried anything (he almost set the house on fire the first time he tried anything while angry). Remus found himself able to do a little healing, but it drained him after. Their discoveries made me feel like a burden; I was the only muggle and an out of shape one as well.

Remus acknowledged that this lifestyle was easier for his transformation only because they now had walls to protect them. Molly joined him on occasion before, having an animal form herself, and she didn't stop now that we were here. I kind of wanted one, too, and wondered if Harry had one before he died. If he did, it was probably something powerful and important. I would most likely become a flea.

We did manage to unbury a trunk full of clothes and Molly celebrated by giving them all a good wash in a nearby stream. As soon as they were all dry, we hung them in the front closet and just left them there. Why ruin your only pair of clothes when the sight of half-clothed skin stopped bothering you? We decided to save it for when we left and were again in "pleasant company." The rags would do for now.

We slept in shifts during that time. One or two of us at a time would crawl into the cabin's single bed. Boundaries disappeared and it became normal to walk in and see whoever was there cuddled together. Out of everyone, I preferred Severus' embrace. It was strong and I couldn't help feeling safe. I found myself making excuses to sleep next to him more than the others.

We were mostly healed now, and all of us had scars from Nagini; Severus on his neck, Remus on his ankle, Neville on his hip, and Molly on her arm. I never looked in a mirror, but I could feel when one of the others traced the scars across my face. I'm sure it looked worse than I imagined, but I was trying to be hopeful. Nobody would tell me what they looked like either way. I'm sure they didn't want to think about it anymore than I did.

_May_

Remus and I found a gun shack in the brush outside the cabin. We figured it would be useful somehow, so we emptied it of guns and ammo. Storing it in the house would give us easier access to it in case of an emergency. Molly refused to have anything to do with them at first, but she soon took one just in case. I caught her several times cleaning it and I wondered who she was thinking about as she did so. Molly usually only habitually cleaned something when she had someone on her mind.

Since I was the only one who had been around muggles long enough, I was given the task of showing the others how to use them. I had no idea and, apart from video games, I had never even fired one. Severus and I stood outside for hours trying to figure out the best way to hold and shoot them. Most of the time, I stood with the gun in my hand and he would try to move me into some kind of position that was both comfortable and practical. During the entire process, I only hit myself in the face one; we were both proud of that.

It didn't take that long to finally figure things out (watching movies had paid off, at least). By the next week, we all knew how to use our new weapons. I knew how to skin any number of animals. Neville got really good at luring them closer to the house just by using plants as a trail. We could have lived there happily together. Through the bite of one snake, we became a family. There was only one big problem: we all knew it had to end. There were still people suffering. We just didn't know how to help them.

_June_

The heat hit the cabin sooner than any of us wanted. The rags we wore felt like too much, but none of us dared to take them off. As much as I got along with them, I didn't want to see them wandering the house with everything hanging loose. We opened all the windows and, in a bit of frustrated magic, Neville managed to push a breeze through. I swear, if it weren't so hot, I would hug him - especially since he made the bedroom more bearable for sleeping.

Sleeping isn't what they always did in there. Several times, I caught Molly and Remus finding comfort in each other's bodies. I only saw her once with Severus, but I'm sure that was because he had always been more careful. That and I tended to take most of his sleeping time. I even walked in on Remus and Neville, wrapped in a comforting embrace with both of them naked and tangled together. I began to wonder if it was just a wizard thing since I hadn't been part of it.

I asked Severus one night as we went to bed why they did that with each other, especially since they didn't seem to keep the same partner. He simply pulled me close and explained that it relieved stress and kept their minds from being overwhelmed in the circumstances. I looked up at him and he kissed me, slow and gentle. Something inside me snapped into focus and I suddenly couldn't get close enough. My hands gripped his back, pulling us closer.

He was no longer gentle. His teeth bit along my body, exposing flesh he hadn't seen before. Flesh I hadn't dare let anyone else see. Even after the clothes came off, it felt as though something still separated us. I whimpered, trying to press into his skin. Severus simply turned me over, sliding down my back until he could spread my cheeks. I almost asked what he was doing, but then I felt his tongue trace my hole.

It sounds more disgusting when I describe it, but I swear it was the best feeling in the world at that time. I only say that because it hurt like hell with him inside me. He promised it would get easier, and it did, but it was not all that enjoyable. Still, he made sure I released and cleaned me up after we finished. My ass was sore for nearly a week and I hated the feeling, but he was right. I wasn't as stressed for a while after. The second time went much smoother.

I had sex with everyone save Molly. She was too much of a mother figure and I think she agreed. Severus always insisted on being in control, but both Neville and Remus didn't mind switching around. If I wanted rough, I went to Severus. Neville tended to be a kinky bastard and we managed to find all sorts of interesting places to sneak off a quick one. Whenever I did slide under the covers with Remus, he made sure that I felt loved. I appreciated it.

A year or two ago, I would have been sickened by what we did so casually. Now it was comforting and I took that comfort whenever the hell I could.

_July_

We knew we couldn't stay out here forever, not when others were dying. Molly wanted to get a message to her family, but there were no owls around to send letters. We had found paper and pens at some point and she drafted many letters to her children. Neville borrowed a few pieces to write his grandmother, and Remus kept in contact with various people though I could never find out who he addressed them to. Severus and I didn't bother; who would care if either of us died? The light side branded him a traitor and I was a muggle. I wasn't even sure an owl would respond to me.

Remus and Severus began to pack what we needed near the end of July, deciding that we had wasted enough time recovering together. Molly placed outfits on the bed for each of us and, one-by-one, we put on more clothing than we had worn since being tossed in Voldemort's cells. My pants were far too big, closer to the size I used to be, but I just belted them tighter around me and pretended they were fine. Most of the others had to do the same and I was glad my old friends couldn't see me now. I'd be lumped in with Harry, being called a freak and loser. I didn't think I'd ever stop being guilty about that.

July brought memories of not my birthday, but Harry's own that we never bothered to celebrate. He'd never have the chance to have another and I knew this could be the last time I ever saw his. I gathered a few of the candles we were leaving behind and went out back to a small sapling tree. Taking as much care as I could, I set the candles up in a lightning-bolt shape before lighting them with a match. It wasn't much for a shrine, but it would have to do. I'm sure Harry would have appreciated it either way.

I wasn't alone for long. Severus sat next to me, staring up at the tree line. We were quiet for a long time until he sighed and asked if I could tell him the truth about Harry's home life. I leaned against him and closed my eyes, refusing to say a word. He didn't need to know how bad I had hurt my cousin, especially today. Let him think what he wanted, just for a day longer. Tomorrow we would leave and maybe, just maybe, I would tell him then.

_August_

Our forest was literally in the middle of nowhere. Nothing but farms greeted us when we emerged from the cover of trees. They were deserted and had dead bodies rotting in the fields, but they were farms all the same. Molly and Remus went looking in the houses for food. Neville and myself searched for anything else we could use. Severus, well, I'm not sure what he always did when we split up.

At our third farm, Neville and I found a beat-up truck in the barn. The keys were in the bed and the tank was full of gas. Wherever we were going, this would get us there faster. We all piled in, Severus up front with me driving, and drove off. The roads were empty of people, but had plenty of other vehicles and dead things piled about. I had to maneuver around wrecked cars and dead cows more often than I had empty road, but at least we were going faster.

When the truck finally ran out of gas, we piled close together in the bed and silently stared at the stars. I made a wish as one flew across the sky. Severus shifted to squeeze my hand and I smiled at him softly. Without knowing why, I apologized for everything I had ever done to Harry. The teasing, the hitting, the degrading; I couldn't hold back. By the time I was done, I was crying into Severus' shoulder. He told me he understood and he also apologized for everything he had done as well.

Molly pressed against my back, kissing the top of my head. Neville was pressed on her other side, Remus around him. We all understood in some way. Neville admitted to being jealous of Harry's easy magic and fame. Remus called himself a coward after James and Lily died. Molly berated herself for not paying more attention.

That night, under the stars, we vowed to kill Voldemort. We would do it for Harry.

Moving got harder after that. More and more Death Eaters showed up and it took all we had not to be seen. There were a few close calls and I'm sure most of my weight loss was stress related at this point. I was near Harry's size now. We held each other tighter when we slept in random empty buildings, separated just in case. It wouldn't do for them to catch us all.

_September_

Molly and I were on watch when we were found by the rebellion. A man named Flitwick seemed to come out of nowhere. Molly was in tears as she woke the others; I couldn't stop staring. He was so _short_. I wondered if it was just a midget or if he was crossed with some weird creature, but I didn't dare ask. Soon enough, we were crawling through a tunnel underground, dirt and worms making themselves home in our clothes and gun barrels.

The tunnel opened up to a large cave system underground. We couldn't help but stare at the mass amount of people around us, especially after the ground above was so deserted. Families ran around through the tunnels, a few of the children laughing as they chased each other. Some of the men stared at us funny and that just made me downright uncomfortable. After being just a group of five, this was becoming claustrophobic. Most hadn't seemed to notice us just yet and that suited me fine; the ones who had noticed were whispering to each other. I feared they were all wizards - this many magical people freaked me out.

Flitwick pointed to another passage, explaining that the wizards were through there. Though the muggles now knew, they were still comfortable separate. I fully planned to hide myself among them, but both Severus and Neville put a hand on my back to make me go with them. Knowing they still wanted me to go with them relaxed me, but not that much. As soon as we were on the wizarding side, I felt as if I were in a different world. People went by on brooms, others rearranged the walls to make new rooms. Despite being around four magical people for months, magic still terrified me. Severus pulled me closer, rubbing my arm. Neville pressed a hand to my back again. God, I hope I never had to lose them.

We were brought to what Flitwick explained to be the war room. At least a dozen people stood inside, including the two I recognized as Ron and Hermione. She burst into tears and ran toward Neville, pulling him away from me so she could jabber on about whatever. Remus had already been pulled away by a girl with pink hair. Molly was with a large group of red heads, tears streaming down her face. I turned to look to Severus, but he was speaking to an elderly woman.

Chills ran down my spine as I realized I didn't fit in here. These people had other worries. As quietly as I could, I moved to a deserted corner and sat, my knees pulled to my chest. This was it. This was where we would separate, despite our promise to Harry. Or was that their promise that I just stuck myself in the middle of? I was just a muggle after all and was desperate for a place to call my own. Perhaps I could make a place of my own on the other side of the tunnels.

Neville pulled me up before I could decide to leave and properly introduced me to Hermione. She wrapped her arms around me – not the most comfortable feeling at this time. I gave Neville a look and he just smiled before pulling us apart. We went to Remus and I felt something in me loosen. The pink-haired girl was crying, but she managed to give me a smile before backing away. Severus came up behind me and I felt myself relax for the first time since Flitwick came. Molly looked over and then opened her arms to me. I had no more doubts as to my new-found family.

Molly told me her husband and eldest son died. Arthur Weasley was trying to get his family out of their home, but he managed to get all but her (who was captured after he lay bleeding) and Bill (who was killed protecting Arthur). She leaned heavily against Remus through the war meeting, much to the confusion of her children (she still had enough, god). I didn't know how to explain to them how close the five of us became and I wasn't too sure they really wanted to know. She was still their mother.

We showed them our guns when asked, explaining how the technology worked. Flitwick and the older woman (McGonagall, Severus told me later) left to go discuss how to combine charms and excess rock to create more. It would be a weapon Voldemort wouldn't see coming. They eventually asked me and the other muggles more information about them, but only after they agreed to use them.

_October_

At night, I found I couldn't sleep alone in my assigned room. Neville and I met in the hallway to Severus' room and we smiled softly at each other. Together, we would go into his room to find Remus and Molly already there. A few elbows in the side later and the five of us would be settled. Despite knowing we were safe, one of us would always stay awake to watch over the others. They gave our rooms to other refugees after the second night we were there. We weren't using them, after all.

Now that he had a proper lab set up and stocked, Severus was able to brew a potion Remus needed with his transformations. This made me happy as I had always wanted a dog, but my parents said that Harry would never take care of it for me enough (I know now how wrong they were). When Remus changed this time, he curled beside me and let me run my fingers through his fur instead of getting as far away from us as possible. I enjoyed the feeling and, when he would come out of his wolf form, he thanked me in various ways.

Nobody seemed to understand us, but we didn't care. Molly tried explaining the situation with her children, but they wouldn't listen. At first, they blamed Severus, but she quickly put her foot down on that excuse. One of the twins asked if I was sleeping with her and I just shook my head and told him sleeping was all we did together. I don't think he believed me, but I was glad I didn't tell him to go ask Severus and Remus the same question.

Severus seemed to only stand touching us. Anyone else that got too close, he would flinch away and put more distance than needed between them. He relaxed if he could reach out and touch one of us, so I tried to always be near him. It I couldn't, I pulled him onto the bed as soon as time permitted and let him relax through my body. It helped most of the time.

Our happy and comfortable life style was interrupted by random missions and constant fear of being caught. Severus and Remus went out the most. Those who remained behind fretted and waited for them to return. Molly cried constantly, always casting a time charm now that she had a wand (they gave one to the others, too). When Severus worried, he grew snappish and short-tempered; Remus tried to hide himself in books or caring for the random assortment of owls that tolerated being underground. Neville and I quickly became the more patient ones, calming the others when needed.

I wasn't that patient when Severus went out on some kind of mission. Neville was declared too young to go, so I never had to worry about him not coming home. Molly insisted she could do more underground than above (they agreed). After seeing Remus transform into a werewolf since April, I knew he could take care of himself. For some reason, I would fret and pace about the tunnel system whenever the dark-haired man left to go do whatever it was wizards did above ground now. I feared he would get caught. I feared he wouldn't come home. I feared that we would lose him. I feared so much that sometimes I forgot exactly what it was I was so afraid of.

_November_

In the middle of the night, before a large cold snap came through, a group of ex-military men came back with enough guns for almost every non-magical person. A few days after that, Flitwick found a way to duplicate them. Every person in the caves now carried at least one with them. Part of me felt safer, until I noticed how some of the younger wizards would fling them about like toys. I tried to stay away from them after that.

Things were getting desperate and we needed a plan. Voldemort knew we were using guns and had his Death Eaters create new shields against the bullets. Once those were set, we made ammo that broke through the shields. It was a constant battle to stay alive and soon the guns were more magical than not. The muggles weren't happy that they had useless weapons again, but Flitwick and a few others promised to try to infuse the ammo with magic, not the guns themselves.

There were a few disasters and both muggle and wizard lost people, but nobody seemed to care. As long as they got what they wanted in the end, they had people ready to sacrifice themselves. I didn't understand it, but knew that they had been down here longer than I had been. The walls weren't constricting yet, but I knew they would be eventually. I really didn't want that day to come.

By the end of the month, a woman named Padma Patil finally figured out the right balance of science and magic. I didn't really understand it, but the bullets now seemed to have a mind of their own when it came to how they struck their targets. The girl was proud of herself, as were others, but I just wanted to know when those damned things would turn against us. After all, it if took this long to get something working, how long until it stopped? I voiced my opinion to Neville one night while Severus was above ground and he just shook his head, telling me to relax. I wanted to relax more than anything, but I had forgotten how.

_December_

I don't know who started it, but someone set up Christmas decorations. Soft fairy lights danced through both wizard and muggle tunnels to the point where I wondered why this was only reserved for Christmas. A few wizards conjured mistletoe and placed it at nearly every entrance. The Weasley twins charmed them to trap whoever happened to be underneath, drawing them together until they kissed. When we walked alone together, Severus would take every opportunity to be caught in the trap. I pretended I hadn't noticed what he was doing. After all, he did the same thing with Remus.

Children started running around more, singing carols and brightening up otherwise dark rooms. I wished I were back home with my parents, sitting in front of our over-large tree with my hundreds of presents. Except I knew that if I were back, I would still be ignorant of what Harry went through. Of what he _would_ be going through had he been here. Guilt washed through me and I set up a small shrine in our room, shaped in a lightning bolt as I had done for his birthday. I didn't deserve it, but I asked for forgiveness anyway.

When Christmas day hit, both muggle and wizard joined together to sing carols in the largest room. Molly helped build a large tree out of extra stone and mud. The tree wasn't the perfect shade of green when they were finished, but we didn't care. There were no presents under the tree, but that didn't seem to matter. I quickly found my new family and sat with them, sharing watered-down cocoa and stories of past Christmas holidays. I wish I had been there during their stories instead of just hearing about them.

On Boxing Day, the look of awe on the children's' faces the night before seemed to kick everyone in motion. We had to stop Voldemort and soon. Nobody wanted to spend another Christmas underground like moles.

_January_

I was the one to suggest a bomb. It was an off-hand comment that drew too much attention, but it was completely my idea. Sadly, it was also the best idea we had since it would destroy the last two Horcruxes: Nagini and Voldemort. The stupid bastard didn't go anywhere without her beside him. The odds were in his favor since it was difficult to get close, but ultimately it made our job simpler.

Plans were made and traps were set. We just needed the bait. Everyone looked at each other as if trying to decide who would work best, but who was also expendable. Finally Severus sighed and stepped forward. He declared that Voldemort would come to him. Escaping death made it personal between them. Besides that, he was the only one that could make the potion work as needed.

I found myself standing next to him, adding myself to the already tempting pot. Neville took my hand and, before I knew it, Molly and Remus were there as well. No matter how much the others argued, we had decided. We would go together. We couldn't live without each other now. The past twelve months has brought us together in a way where we didn't feel comfortable separating.

I am writing this a few hours before we leave. The five of us spent the night memorizing everything about each other. I had their love and support imprinted on my skin, and they had mine. We each ingested a potion that, when Voldemort and Nagini were next to us, it would explode on a simple command from any of us. Severus told me to trust that it would work for me, but I can only hope. It was the only way he couldn't detect it and find it before we destroyed him.

Perhaps, when you read this, you will understand why we were that way. Perhaps you will understand why we had to do this. Perhaps, but probably not. After all, we didn't do this for you. We did it for Harry.

-Dudley Dursley


End file.
